1827. 



l\Q VOYAGE TO THE 



CHAP, and soon wear out : so that their navy, at present, is 



,^ ^^' J of no great advantage to the state. 

 Feb. No duties have as yet been imposed on any goods, 



either imported or exported, and the only charges 

 made by the government are the port dues, which are 

 very prudently lighter on vessels touching at the 

 islands for refreshments only, than upon those which 

 bring cargoes of merchandize ; the charge in the 

 former case is six, and in the latter fifty, cents per ton 

 for the outer anchorage, and ten and sixty cents per 

 ton respectively for the inner anchorage. 



The Sandwich Islanders will apparently make as 

 good soldiers as they do sailors, and are so proud of 

 the honour of being embodied in the corps of the 

 state, that they cannot suffer a greater disgrace than 

 to have the regimentals taken from them and to be 

 turned out of the ranks. They were repeatedly drilled 

 by our serjeant of marines, and though under the 

 disadvantage of not understanding the language in 

 which the word of command was given, they im- 

 proved quite as much as men in general would have 

 done who had been in the habit of seeing the exer- 

 cise performed. The inhabitants appear disposed to 

 learn any thing that does not rec|uire labour, and 

 soldiering soon became so completely a mania, that 

 the king had the choice of his subjects ; and little 

 boys were seen in all parts of the town tossing up a 

 sugar cane, with a " shoulder ump ! " and some of the 

 troop, even after being dismissed, would rehearse the 

 lesson of the day by themselves. The islanders have 

 a good idea of acting in concert, derived from their 

 early exercise of the palalu, so interestingly described 

 by Vancouver, in which they were accustomed to 



